Dallas Mavericks: Jalen Brunson makes USA Select Team

Team USA has been working hard on putting together the USA Basketball Men’s National Team World Cup Training Roster over the past several weeks. Although they are still working on it, Dallas Mavericks guard, Jalen Brunson was named to the select team.

Years ago, it was looked at as an honor to represent your country in international competition. Some great Dallas Mavericks players represented their home countries in these events, like Dirk Nowitzki for team Germany and J.J. Barea for team Puerto Rico. This was true for Team USA as well. How could we forget the great Dream Team or even the Redeem Team?

Nowadays, international competition is viewed as a chore instead of an honor. Players drop out of competition every year and the heads of Team USA scramble to fill out the roster. Now, a lot of this could be different if the team was getting ready to play in the Olympics, but it still shouldn’t be this hard to field an elite team.

Team USA is currently trying to fill out their training camp roster, but while they have been working on that, the team put together a 13-man select team, which will be used to practice against the main team and help them with their game. Mavs guard, Jalen Brunson, was named to that 13-man roster.

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/1154484720186429441

The USA select team consists of: Brunson, Jarrett Allen, Marvin Bagley III, Mikal Bridges, John Collins, Pat Connaughton, De’Aaron Fox, Joe Harris, Jonathan Isaac, Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, Derrick White and Trae Young. There is a chance that these players could have a shot to compete for a roster spot, but for the most part they will be used as a practice dummy.

The select team will be coached by former NBA coach, Jeff Van Gundy, with assistant coach, Mark Few, current head coach of Gonzaga University.

This will be a cool opportunity for Brunson to become acclimated with the international basketball scene and with USA sports. He may never be a top candidate for Team USA, but with the way things are currently going, you never know.

Brunson will be operating primarily as the backup point guard for the Mavs this year, most likely, and hopefully this summer experience will help him learn from other players and take a step forward on an already impressive, short career. What a cool opportunity for an impressive rookie, ready to take the next step.